


Summers, Holidays and In-betweens

by tEAcLouDs



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2019-11-14 13:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 13,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18053690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tEAcLouDs/pseuds/tEAcLouDs
Summary: Where does Albus Dumbledore go when the school is over?What if he spends his summers with his imprisoned husband in Numenguard?Here's a series of one-shots of their life during summer vacations and brief visitations, not in any particular order.*Not to be taken too seriously





	1. First day of school

It was the morning of the first day of school. Summer holidays flew by, as if they were but a dream. Quite a good dream, but a dream nonetheless. Albus was lying face down, deep in sleep next to Gellert. The alarm went off. He started, quickly turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. Nothing bad would happen if he missed the first few hours of school. They could do without him for a while. However, it seemed that Gellert had other plans, because not a minute later a hand gently shook his shoulder “Come on Al, time to wake up.” Gellert whispered in his ear. “Five more minutes” mumbled Albus and tried to cover his head with the pillow. “Come on Schatz, kids are waiting” His blanket was pulled from him unceremoniously. It wasn’t fair! Gellert was a deep sleeper, he wasn’t supposed to be awakened by the alarm! “Don’t want to go” mumbled Albus, curling into a ball around his pillow. “Liebe, I can’t believe that I’m the one saying this but - you’ve got responsibilities, remember?” said Gellert with a laugh. “Don’t care” said Albus curling to an even smaller ball. “Fine” he heard a sigh beside the bed. “You leave me no choice.” another sigh “I’ll have to call Minerva” a dead silence hung in the bedroom. Suddenly an icy glare of two bright blue eyes was fixed on Gellert. Lesser men would have evaporated on the spot but he only chuckled, folding the blanket.  
“That is a low blow, really below the belt Gellert” said Albus while getting dressed.


	2. Over tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1991, when Dumbledore sends Hagrid to give Harry his Hogwarts letter

“You can’t be serious!” said Gellert, sipping his tea. “You don’t think it would be better for you to talk to the boy in person? You know, to properly introduce him to the Wizarding world?”  
“I trust Hagrid, he’s good with kids and the boy would love him.” said Albus tying one of his scarves in front of the mirror, without looking at Gellert.  
“Yes, I’m sure he is just wonderful” said Gellert and received a darting icy stare, as Albus tried another scarf for his outfit for the first day of school. “Look Al I understand that you have a soft spot for the man. I know you mean well, but don’t you think it would be wiser if you explained the situation to the kid in person? It is after all a complicated matter. Not to mention that you are responsible for the boy’s situation” He took another sip of his tea only to discover it to be heavily salted and cold. “Hagrid will do just fine” was the answer he received as another scarf was considered in front of the mirror. Gellert raised a brow. “I’ve got other commitments and responsibilities.”  
“Oh really? Do tell “  
Two very annoyed eyes finally looked at him and then apparated. From a castle that you weren’t supposed to be able to apparate from. Gellert sighed and rolled his eyes.


	3. Boots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1980, after appearing with his buckled boots and dropping Harry at the Dursley's doorstep (and telling McGonagall that they might as well go celebrate)

They already had their fair share of celebratory drinks at the three brooms for the occasion of the dark lord’s defeat, when a dark brown owl flew inside and dropped a blood red envelope in Albus Dumbledore’s lap. He only mumbled a surprised “Oh!” and stared at the envelope for a few seconds. Prof. McGonagall glanced at the envelope and said “Is that ..?”   
“A howler? Oh yes” said Dumbledore and chuckled “I believe Gellert isn’t too happy that I took his boots for a walk today. I think I better get going if I don’t want to spoil the party here.” and so he stood up swaying a little, and made his way towards the castle whistling out of tune. Half an hour later, Prof. McGonagall went to check on Albus at his room. The place looked as if a bomb went off there. The pictures on the walls were off their nails, dust was flying around, and a large sign above the bed in red paint stated: “Thief!!!”  
On the door she found a note: “Hope it is not too much trouble for you to hold the fortress on your own for a little while.” signed A.   
Prof. McGonagall sighed and with a swish of a wand cleaned the room of dust. 

Gellert was sitting in an armchair in front of the entrance, sipping tea, reading a book, planning the best way to make a fuss about the matter at hand, when Albus finally made an appearance. Gellert was about to make a sarcastic comment about how Al was having fun without him, when Albus swayed a little at the door and sled slowly down the nearest wall. For a man his age Gellert moved surprisingly fast. He moved surprisingly fast for a man of any age, actually. He was beside Albus in a heart beat, picking him up. “What happened?”  
“I abandoned a child in the middle of the street. Couldn’t even ring the bloody bell.” Said Albus with a sniff.  
“And the boots?” said Gellert glancing at his favorite boots that were currently dangling on Al’s feet.   
“For the courage” said Albus lifting his sadly twinkling eyes from the spot on Gellert’s shirt he was fascinated with, and smiled his sad broken smile that Gellert liked to call “It Was for the Greater Good SmileTM”.  
It was time for some strong hot tea, decided Gellert setting Albus on the couch.


	4. Christmas morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1991, Christmas, when Harry receives his father's invisibility cloak

“Al you are not seriously considering giving a deathly hallow to a kid, are you?” asked Gellert holding the receiver of his charmed phone with his shoulder, while trying to maneuver the kettle and the teapot so they wouldn’t get tangled in the phone cord. He decided that he needed to make some alterations and the cord was the first to go as soon as the conversation was over.   
“It belongs to his father and therefore belongs to him, I only return what never was mine”  
“Liebling, pray tell me then why didn’t you return it sooner? Besides, really Al? That’s how you save on Christmas gifts?”  
“He was supposed to grow up in a non magical environment darling, so he will understand both worlds. Giving him an invisibility cloak wasn’t practical. It is crucial for him to know the muggle world first hand and it could give him an unfair advantage. And of course I don’t feel keen on the ministry snooping around, which they would have done, had I given him the cloak sooner.” there was a pause, then Albus continued “The best gifts have mainly a sentimental value, which only increases with time, Gellert.” Gellert could hear Albus pursing his lips and being stubborn.  
“Oh really? You’ll give an 11 year old, that you were so terrified meeting just a week ago, mind you, a deathly hallow? While you know how sentimental it is to me?? Scheisse! I’ll give you sentimental Al! For this Weihnacht you are going to get those old pink wooly socks you and tante Betty gave me back in the day. Remember them?“  
“Oh they definitely defy death better than any hallow” said Albus smiling.   
“Well you don’t have to come home for Christmas now do you? You have an 11 year old to meet. Finally.” said Gellert with malice and hung up the phone tripping on the cord, sending the kettle flying and spilling the tea on him.  
“Scheisse!”

 

Albus Dumbledore woke up on Christmas morning, and it seemed at first that it was a morning like any other. Well, then he found the gifts piled neatly beside his bed, apart from one particular package that was dropped on top of it. Albus laid for a few moments just staring at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts. He will have to face Harry at some point. Better later than sooner, but alas. Despite his fears it seemed that the boy was actually quite alright. Albus sighed, put on his red flowery bathing robe and got out of bed to inspect his newly acquired treasures. The neat pile consisted mainly of books. Nicolas Flamel sent him some very useful transfiguration books, Minerva sent him the plays of a muggle writer Oscar Wilde, prof. Slaghorn sent him a very nice bottle of fire whiskey and Hagrid sent him a beautifully but somewhat unprofessionally carved small figurine of an owl. He didn’t expect anything from Abertfort, even though he himself sent him an anger management book, but he found a small package of sherbet lemons from the bastard with a note attached “enjoy what she cannot”. Albus hummed smiling and put the candies in his pocket. He then sighed and dreadfully approached the package on the bed. He had a suspicion about the identity of its sender. He sighed, sat on the bed and tore the wrapping as quickly as he could. Inside he found a pair of dreadful old pink wool socks and a flowery bonnet. He let out a breath that he was apparently holding and went to the charmed phone hidden in the closet. After a few rings Gellert was on the line.  
“I guess you received my gifts”  
“They do defy death quite nicely, I must admit. Why the bonnet though?”  
“Saw it and it just had your name on it, couldn’t resist.” you could almost hear the shrug over the phone. “Thank you for the knitting pattern book, it will distract me enough from the fact that you gave a deathly hallow to an 11 year old, instead of, say, more mature and sensible people that would know how to put it to proper use, and hopefully it will put my mind off the fact that I’m stuck here in the castle more or less. But pray tell me mein Schatz, why the sentient gloves?”  
“Well, since I’m not there to keep you company I thought you would need a hand. Since when are you sensible or mature?”  
There was a silence, then Gellert hung up the phone with a bang. It was becoming a tradition.


	5. Communication methods

It was getting late and Albus Dumbledore hadn’t finished even half of his gradings yet. He was sitting in his office and could feel how the essays drove him up the wall. They were lovely kids, but the amount of the ridiculous things they wrote was getting out of hand. And he didn’t have time for dinner. He groaned rubbed his tired eyes and was about to get a sugar high from yet another chocolate frog, when his wand started to tingle. A security ward was activated at Numenguard. Dumbledore took a deep breath and sighed. Merlin’s pants Gellert. He had to get there before the ministry. Good thing he signed up for the sportive walking group in Hogsmeade, because he was now walking half of Hogwarts with the speed of a flying snitch, trying to look inconspicuous. One hour later and one faulty port key, he finally arrived at the gates of the castle. Casting ‘Homenum Revelio’ he ran upstairs and into the living room.  
“What the hell is going on?” he froze at the door.  
Gellert and Jacob Kowalski were sitting on the floor amidst various rubble that belonged to muggle electronic equipment. In front of them was what he knew muggles called a phone. Mr. Kowalski was holding the receiver. Two pairs of eyes were staring at him startled, one of them looked a little guilty. Albus strode towards the phone “Let me guess, mrs. Kowalski-Goldstein is on the other side, isn’t she?” he bent down and took the receiver from Jacob, who was opening and closing his mouth without a sound.  
“Hello Quinnie. Yes, they did quite a wonderful job… oh they started working on the television too?” he turned to stare at Gellert accusingly. “Mm.. yes, lovely indeed. Would you mind terribly if I send Jacob home early? There’s an auror meeting scheduled here in a few and I wouldn’t want him to get in the middle of it… oh splendid. Well, see you two for tea? I have my eye on a honey cake in Hogsmeade that I would love to share with you.” he said touching Jacob on the shoulder. The latter disappeared with a puff. Being the one in charge of the wards of the castle had its merits. He put down the receiver. Gellert leaned his back on the couch, glanced at Albus and swallowed.  
“I must admit I’m very impressed, Gellert.” Said Albus making the phone and the mess around disappear with the swipe of a hand.  
“Could have lied and told you that it won’t happen again, but I’m not keen on lying to you Schatz.” said Gellert.  
“I told you muggle studies will have their merit even for a wizard like you, darling. However, I would appreciate a warning next time. I had to run a marathon because of you.” said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes.  
“Does you good with all the sweets you eat, Liebe.” smiled Gellert. “What will you tell the aurors?”  
“Oh, that I came to check on you and aparated inside the castle without putting down the wards.”  
“Sounds plausible.”  
“Of course. Had half an hour to ponder about it when the port key malfunctioned” said Albus sitting on the couch. “I want one”  
“Ah?” said Gellert turning his head  
“A phone. And a line that connects it to yours. How did you get into the muggle network, by the way? I’m quite impressed by the effort.”  
Gellert was quiet for some time and then said “It’s half connected to the floo network, half rides along existing muggle phone numbers, a fake operator.”  
A week later Gellert received a permit for a television for research purposes that arrived by a very ruffled owl.


	6. Uninvited guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> probably a year or two after the infamous 1945

“Mr. Grindelwald!” Tina marched through the main doors of Numenguard, waving the house elf away. She hesitated slightly but then proceeded her furious march to the lit kitchen door. “Mr. Grindelwald!” she entered the kitchen and crossed her arms, glaring daggers at Gellert, that sat at the table and sipped his tea gloomily. “Hello miss Bagshot” she said turning her head slightly towards the amused Bathilda. “I’m sorry to interrupt but” she turned back to glare at Gellert “I would like to know why is there a mopping Dumbledore on my couch, that keeps saying that ‘there’s no need to fuss around, he’s quite alright really’?”  
She started to tap her foot as the silence continued. “I had a surprisingly nice and quiet evening up until the point that your husband decided to drop for tea, so you better start talking.” she said with a frown.   
Gellert sighed, setting his cup on the table. “I might have suggested that it would be better to part our ways.”  
“You did what now?!” said Tina in a quiet scream  
“He’s better off without me. Don’t play the fool mrs. Scamander. What does an owner of Merlin’s first order medal has to do with a deranged and broken criminal? It would be better for his career and certainly for his health.” said Gellert monologuing to his tea cup.   
“Did you ask him?”  
“He would have got sentimental. So, no I did no such thing. I told him, he was no longer welcome here.”  
“Gellert!” finally said ms. Bagshot raising her brows.  
“What? It’s for the best. He doesn’t need to rot and waste away with me.” exclaimed Gellert raising his gaze to meet his aunt’s. “I already did him plenty wrong for a lifetime” he said finally turning towards Tina. “Besides, the less he is seen here the better. Can you imagine what will happen if someone in the British Ministry of Magic finds out the extent of his stays here? I’m ready to be at their mercy again and take any torture they would inflict upon me, but I won’t stand to see Albus set a foot in Azkaban, even if I hurt him in the process. As I usually do.”  
Tina blinked at him several times “Mr. Grindelwald, I know it sounds really heroic and convincing” she took a breath “and you surely think that you do it for the greater good. But please, cut him some slack, he is the brightest wizard of our age, he can weigh the risks and make his own choices. And he deserves to be a part of this decision.”  
She let the silence hang in there for a few moments, while Grindelwald was staring at her, deep in thought, then proceeded in a lighter tone “He’s going to come here tomorrow at noon and you two better talk things out. I can’t deal with another war or a ruined couch. I already have a clan nifflers that can do the work just fine on both accounts.” she said, turning away “Goodbye miss Bagshot, nice to see you as always. We’ll see you this weekend, I hope?” and she went outside.  
“You know she’s right Gellert” said Bathilda sipping her tea “you are quite a spectacular idiot.”  
Gellert banged his head on the table.


	7. It's all fun and games

Albus Dumbledore has lost their recent chess game and the bet that came along with it, and was now facing the consequences. He was standing at their kitchen in Numenguard cutting salad. Lots of salad. Meanwhile Gellert was wearing his most satisfied shit eating grin. “Come on, Liebe, there’s the juice that you need to make too, don’t forget about it.” he said with a wink, taking three chocolate frogs from Albus’s stash, that was removed from the cupboard for the occasion, juggling them for a while, then letting them fall into a huge box that was labeled “Charity”. Albus sighed quietly, not looking at Gellert. He was about to make and eat a barrel of salad and drink a gallon of avocado juice. Handmade, no magic whatsoever.  
“I will get back at you eventually, you know that.”  
“Yes süßer, no one touches your secret stash. I know. However, lately, I discovered that it’s best to enjoy the things that life gives you as they come, without regards of what will come next. Besides I’m not one to be deterred by such minor consequences.” said Gellert dropping more candies in the box, and was hit by a piece of a tomato square in the face.  
He chuckled, threw the tomato in the kitchen sink, washed his hands and turned around to hug Albus from behind. He kissed Albus’ shoulder, then put his chin on it, and hummed quietly, kissing his husband’s neck. Albus smiled a small smile and touched his head to Gellert’s, but continued cutting the salad, occasionally emptying the cutting board into a huge bowl. They stayed like this for a while, when suddenly Albus froze mid cut. “Aurors are coming. For an inspection I presume.” he said with a frown, as a loud bang of the opening gates was heard. Gellert didn’t move or loosened his hug.  
“Honey, please.” said Albus tapping lightly on Gellert’s hands.  
Gellert untangled himself, huffed in disapproval and pouted, but sat at the table and stretched out his arms “You are the only one who is allowed to put handcuffs on me, darling.” he said winking and blowing Albus a kiss, when a pair of heavy handcuffs with a chain between them appeared on his wrists. Albus made the charity box disappear and pushed the salad in front of Gellert, as the aurors were heard making their way up the stairs. Gellert looked genuinely suffering as he took a fork in his chained hand, fished a tomato from the salad and threw it at Albus.  
The aurors opened the kitchen door as Albus was about to throw the tomato back. He glanced in their direction, nodded in a silent hello, then proceeded to throw the tomato at Gellert.  
“What in Merlin’s name are you doing, Dumbledore?” shouted auror Trevers.  
“What does it look like?” said Albus calmly. “Torturing my prisoner”  
He could see from the corner of his eye that Gellert was trying his best not to choke on a forkful of salad that he had stuffed in his mouth.


	8. Headmaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1992, after the opening of the Chamber of Secrets

Gellert Grindelwald was sitting in his favorite armchair in Numenguard (where else could he be since his imprisonment) trying his hand at knitting a scarf. It was somewhat lumpy but a tremendous improvement since the last one. Albus was way better than him and was taunting him mercilessly, and Gellert wasn’t having it. He had all the time in world, and will make a decent looking scarf eventually, but hopefully, soon. He had the radio on as a background noise, and a cup of tea on the table that had turned cold ages ago. He was so immersed in his work that he nearly missed the news announcement:  
“.... and now to the breaking news: Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin - First Class, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been fired today from his current position by the vote of all 13 members of the School’s Board of Governors, due to allegations of misconduct regarding safety measures in the school..”  
If Gellert were drinking his cold tea he would have spit it right now. Al got fired? Oh, he would have a field day. Brace yourself, for revenge is coming mister supreme sock knitting wump. He would of course kill or at least severely scare those idiots that thought that anyone can be better than his Albus, if he had a chance. Yes, he’s a little irresponsible, but he tries his best and it’s more than anyone else’s best, thank you very much. But Gellert could have a little fun along the way, couldn’t he?

 

Albus Dumbledore was heading to Numenguard with a suitcase and Fawkes flying above him. He wasn’t really concerned about being fired, he would sort it out, but it would require meeting people. Ministry people. And he wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. Not today, at least. Today he will have a quiet evening and will deal with the mess tomorrow.   
At the entrance he realised that he was wrong about having a quiet evening - It seemed that his husband wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easily. There was Gellert, standing in an apron at the open door, looking very very serious; disappointed housewife serious. Oh well.   
“Well, well, well, are my eyes deceiving me? Isn’t that mister Order of Merlin - First Class, Chief warlock of the Wizengamot” Albus stared as Gellert continued “Supreme Mugwamp of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the only headmaster of Hogwarts to be kicked out in the middle of the year by no less than the whole staff of the board. Congratulations Liebling.”  
Albus swallowed and took a deep breath “Gell, please, I ..”  
“What, your highness? Decided to single handedly get Britain’s unemployment rate even higher?” said Gellert dropping the act smirking.  
Albus pinched the bridge of his nose. This is going to be a very long evening.  
“Prey tell me dear husband how are you going to support your family now that you are out of job, hm?”  
“Gell.. What are you talking abou..”  
“Come on Fawkes back me up” said Gellert as Fawkes flew through the opened door, right to his shoulder and bumped his head on Gellert’s cheek chirping happily.  
“Traitor” said Albus moving past them into the house, getting off his cloak.   
Gellert closed the door petting Fawkes. “Tsk tsk tsk, Britain’s brightest star. Oh how the mighty have fallen.”  
“May I remind you that you are an unemployed school drop out yourself, honey?” said Albus with a sigh turning around to face his husband and traitor of a bird.   
“Yes Liebling, I know I’m a failure, that’s why I married you. Someone has to be a success in this family. Besides Fawkes, of course.” said Gellert with a wink, moving up the stairs. “But I guess it suits your record - you need even your failures to be spectacular. Now come on you supreme layabout no-good of a husband, get your unemployed self moving, there’s a cup of hot chocolate and a celebratory lemon pie waiting just for you upstairs.” Fawkes chirped at the mention of the dessert. He liked lemon pie.


	9. of Books and Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> set at the summer before the Prisoner of Azkaban

After inspecting the Monster book of Monsters at the publishing house, Albus Dumbledore was sporting a purring, furry book in his grip. This book was a true delight. He could imagine the amount of havoc it will cause to students and their parents, not to speak of Flourish and Blotts. He will of course get the chance to see the effect of this masterpiece of a book first hand at school and maybe he’ll visit Diagon Alley, he did require new robes, but he wanted Gellert to get a chance to experience the joy himself. 

Gellert Grindelwald was in quite a good mood. It was summer and therefore, Albus was home a lot more often. Though Gellert liked the cold, over the years summer became his favorite season. Apparently it was an acquired taste. He was sitting on the porch facing the Alps in his black silk robe with a silver brim, whistling softly and doodling the magnificent view of the mountainside. Albus was having myriads of meetings on school matters today, but he was supposed to be home for dinner so they’ll have a quiet evening, and Gellert was looking forward to it. Cold wind was blowing through the mountain tops and after a while Gellert decided that summer or not it was due time to steal a pair of Albus’ knitted socks. He would never admit it but he took a liking to the brightly coloured fluffy wool.  
He rose up from his chair, put down his drawings, stretched closing his eyes and breathing a lungful of fresh mountain air, and went inside. He thought that he heard some noise downstairs, but decided against checking its source as it was probably the house elves in their cleaning spree, and interfering them was almost as dangerous as stealing Albus’ secret cookie stash. 

Gellert was deciding between the orange socks with little lemons on them and the purple ones with tiny silver stars and a moon on the ankle, when he noticed the growling and the ripping sounds that were coming from behind him. He turned slowly with the socks in his hands and looked around. The growling was coming from the other side of their bed and the ripping sounds were evidently produced by his favorite leather pants, that he left carelessly on top of the covers, and were now slowly, but steadily sliding down beneath the bed. Gellert, cautiously, took a few steps around it and dared a look. He managed to see something furry with teeth and… were those book pages? The creature stopped its munching on his pants and turned to growl at him. They stared at each other for a moment, then Gellert decided that he was not leaving anyone behind and jumped on the bed grabbing his beloved pants, that were already lacking in length. Unfortunately, the stubborn creature jumped as well and now was dangling from one of the pants’ legs and rustling its pages. 

Albus entered their bedroom and was met by the sight of Gellert trying to persuade the Monstrous book to give up on chewing his leather pants and go for Albus’ socks instead, the bastard. Albus stood in the doorway with a small smile playing on his lips, arms crossed, as Gellert was about to throw a sock and jump on the furry reading material. “I see you are restyling the wardrobe”  
Gellert turned to look at him “Bastard.” he turned to look back at the book. “ What is this menace?”  
“The Monster Book of Monsters, dear. Our newest addition to the school reading material this year.” said Albus happily.  
“No doubt, Mr. Scamander’s latest contribution to the literary community?”  
“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous. When was the last time you heard Newt call any creature a monster?”  
“Tut mir leid, of course du hast recht, Liebe.” sighed Gellert casting a calculating stare at the book and finally jumping on it with a defiant look.  
Albus walked into the room and around the bed to see Gellert struggling to restrain the book with his leather pants. Albus knew it was a great sacrifice, it was rather impressive really.  
Gellert managed to stuff a sock in the book when it tried to snap at him and finally closed the noose and tied the pants around it, looking at Albus triumphantly.  
“You know, there’s a simple way to make it behave? A gentle touch is rather effective, as in all aspects of life. You only need to stroke it on its binding.” said Albus with twinkling eyes.  
“Don’t try to be all morally superior on me, Schatz. It’s rather ironic, coming from a man who let this monstrosity loose in our bedroom.” said Gellert rather breathlessly, he really should work out more.  
“I admit it was very funny to watch but rather reckless of me to do.” said Albus with a kind smile “And I’m up to negotiations about the nature of what I let loose in our bedroom in the future.” He knelt down by Gellert, who was torn between catching his breath and smirking, and stroked the binding of the feral book. It calmed down immediately and the orange sock slipped out from between its pages. Gellert smiled apologetically. 

The anticipated dinner had come and gone, and the fire was dancing merrily in the fireplace. Albus was curled on the couch sipping wine, while Gellert was feeding the monster book post-it notes. Fawkes, sitting on his perch in the corner of the room, was darting angry glares at the scene and occasionally chirping angrily. Apparently all members of the family were prone to jealousy from time to time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tut mir leid = sorry  
> du hast recht = you are right


	10. Colour

Albus Dumbledore arrived to Numenguard at last, and he longed for a hot relaxing shower. It has been a long day and his back was killing him. After he kissed Gellert, that was apparently having a bake off with the house elves, he dropped his suitcase in the bedroom, grabbed some underwear and a towel from the cupboard without really looking, and went to the bathroom. He was in the middle of getting his pant off, when he noticed the strange white box that stood at the corner of the room, and was making some strange noises.   
“.... Gell?” he called “Gellert! Would you mind coming here for a moment, please?” a few moments passed but there was no reaction, only happy cooking sounds from the direction of the kitchen. He grabbed his wand from the shelf where it rested, pointed it toward his throat, sighed and called “GELLERT!”  
Gellert appeared at the doorway shortly afterwards, wearing an absent smile and an oil stained shirt. “Was ist los, Liebe?”  
“Care to explain what is this?” said Albus pointing at the box that was emitting it’s noises still, and making half a jump every few minutes.  
Gellert’s smile faltered, but after a few moments of silence he said “It’s a washing machine. A muggle’s device. Only slightly enchanted.”  
“A washing machine?” said Albus in disbelief.  
“Yes, poor Twinkle has enough work as it is. It can improve his employment conditions. You know regulating working conditions for house elves..”   
“And now the truth”  
The silence hung between them for some time.  
“I’ve been bored out of my mind and Jacob mentioned this device…. “ Gellert now looked at some fascinating spot on the floor. “You’ll be please to know” he said quietly “that you are now four sweaters down and at least two sets of our sheets are entirely pink. Your flowery robes stain.” Gellert swallowed.  
Albus stared at him intently for a while, then shifted his gaze to the underwear he grabbed earlier for the shower. They were, too, a light shade of washed out pink.   
He turned back to Gellert, who put on his brave face just in case Albus wouldn’t be too pleased with the ruined knitwork or the colour scheme. Albus’ eyes were twinkling with amusement “I’ve always wanted pink sheets. You think we can make some in other colours as well?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was ist los = what is wrong


	11. Promises to keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by Albus Dumbledore's Golden watch with too many hands in the first book :P

Albus Dumbledore arrived at Numenguard castle and was greeted with shouts, that seemed to be coming from upstairs. He climbed the stairs as fast as he could with a feeling of an impending doom. Were there aurors that came to visit? He didn’t know if he worried more about Gellert getting hurt or him hurting aurors and then facing the consequences.  
“YOU USELESS FILTHY THING, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE, YOU ABSOLUTE ARSCHLOCH?!”  
Albus opened the door to reveal Gellert shouting at Twinkle, the house elf, amongst ruins of their grand piano. He cleared his throat in the ringing silence. Gellert turned around like a whip, with a mad look and tears in his eyes, and stormed out without a word. A door, probably their bedroom door by the sound of it, was slammed in the distance. Albus looked at Twinkle who was about to burst into tears at any minute. He managed to grab Twinkle by the back of his tunic as he was about to slam his head into the ruined piano. “Hey, stop, stop!” Albus restrained the elf in one hand and tried to conjure a cup of tea with the other.  
“Stop it please. Here, drink this and tell me what is going on here.”  
“It’s all Twinkle’s fault master Dumbledore.” sobbed Twinkle holding the tea cup with both hands, darting his huge eyes to the piano that was re-assembling itself. “No, no, no. I’m sure it’s not. What happened?”  
“Twinkle was cleaning the room, sir, and levitated the piano to clean behind it. I puts it at the other end of the room, right on master Grindelwald’s pedant sir, and it got bended. Twinkle’s a very clumsy elf, sir.”  
Albus looked at the direction to which Twinkle had pointed with a sigh. “Not to worry, it’s quite alright. I believe Mr. Grindelwald overreacted a bit. You should go and get yourself a big slice of the Apfelstrudel that I left at the kitchen along with some tea, and Gellert and I will join you shortly.” said Albus with a warm smile. Twinkle blinked at him but did not move. “Come on.” Albus smiled encouragingly. Twinkle disappeared with a lost look and a snap. Albus dropped the smile, got up and walked to the spot where the pedant was still laying. He picked it up. It was a little bended alright, but nothing that he couldn't fix, or so he hoped. With a final sigh he headed to the bedroom.  
Everything there was quiet, the only sound was the wind blowing through a hole in the window. Gellert was sitting on the floor by the bed, staring into the distance, tears glistening on his cheeks. He didn’t move a muscle, as Albus walked towards him. “Scoot over a bit, I want to join the pity party.”  
“You should call the aurors” said Gellert moving to the side so Albus could sit beside him.  
“And why should I do such nonsense?” snorted Albus playing with the pedant in his hands.  
“Tell them that they can finish the job. That house elves’ magic can break blood pacts, apparently. The world will breath freely, and you will have one less problem.” Gellert staring detachedly at the pedant in Albus’ hands.  
“I’m not calling any aurors.”  
“You‘ll do it yourself then?”  
Albus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought it was obvious since the day we were married, but I guess that I will have to spell this out for you - What we have is beyond jewelry. They can make me break the blood pact or do it themselves ten times over it won’t change the course of my actions towards you, as well as my decisions or feelings for you.” Albus made the pedant levitate to the shelf across the room “I must say it is a pretty thing, you know? Pity it’s got bended. If you want I can make you another promise and another pedant. And I’ll repair this one of course, don’t worry.”  
Gellert lifted his eyes to finally meet the quiet blue of his husband’s and stared at him with puzzlement, as if he just now remembered how the other man looked and was trying to memorise his face before he disappeared for good.  
“It’s the only thing that will be left” said Gellert quietly. ”When you’ll finally realise that you are better off without me. This and maybe some socks and shirts if you’ll be merciful.” He rested his head on the wall and let his gaze rest on the pedant across the room.  
“I thought after the night I spent at the Scamanders’, for my own greater good and happy Gellertless life, thanks to you, we agreed that you won’t get rid of me so easily?”  
“I always hope that you will grow some brains and the other shoe will drop someday.” Gellert rolled his head to face Albus with a rueful smile.  
“Sorry to disappoint, dear, it won’t” said Albus rising up and offering Gellert a hand. “Come on, there’s tea, Apfelstrudel and a very distressed house elf in the kitchen.”  
“Ja wirklich.. I better apologise, before he’ll poison my tea.”  
Albus rolled his eyes as Gellert took his hand intertwining their fingers and they went to the kitchen.

 

Some months have passed, Albus was home every other week or so. Gellert wasn’t complaining, far from it. He was pleasantly surprised every time Albus arrived with his twinkling smile and absurd tales of school children, teachers and even ministry folks. Christmas was getting close, but Gellert didn’t want to get his hopes high. After all Albus had a school full of responsibilities, and aunt Betty would come to keep him company for the evening. Gellert was in the kitchen, making a list of all the things they would need for the celebration when he heard the gates open and a familiar voice call “Gellert, I’m home” accompanied by a ruffling of feathers as Fawkes circled the house, got his snack in the kitchen before heading into the living room to shed some feathers there in an act of affection to his castle and the house elves.  
Gellert got out of the kitchen and down the stairs, where he found Albus nervously trying to hang his coat, failing, giving up, and throwing it on top of the coat hanger with a sigh. Albus turned around when he heard the steps, and smiling, looked at Gellert.  
Then, he got to one knee.  
Gellert froze mid step and stared.  
After what seemed like an eternity Gellert noticed the box that Albus was holding accompanying it with a hopeful look in his ever so blue eyes. Gellert forgot how to breathe.  
“Are you going to just stand there? I need you to open the box, dear”  
Gellert stared some more but eventually descended to face Albus and his box of wonders.  
“Come on dear, open it” and he did. Inside there were two golden pocket watches that had way too many hands to show time. Two hands labeled Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald were pointing at Home.  
“I know it’s not as good as a blood troth, but it’s a promise.” said Albus trying to catch Gellert’s eyes but the other was still staring at the watches.  
“That’s hardly a fair trade, Liebe”  
“Why so?”  
“Where else can I be but here, whereas you..”  
“You can fool everybody else, dear, but you don’t fool me. I know right well that you can get out of here if you put your brilliant mind to it. You are here as long as you believe in us. It’s your promise to me, to stay here. And that” Albus nodded towards the watches “is my promise to you in return, to always come back.”  
Gellert was fighting away tears but few managed to slip his guard.  
“Al… that’s really not neces...” then his eyes fell on the other hands of the watch “Is that Scamander?! ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE, ARE YOU PROPOSING TO ME WITH A SCAMANDER WATCH???” Gellert wasn’t shouting. Definitely not shouting, merely loudly exclaiming his discontent, while Albus had the audacity to fight away a smile.  
“Honey, there are many others beside him, if you look closely..”  
“You put **Scamander** in my wedding watch.”  
“I made two identical watches as not to draw too much attention, and I want to know that Newt is safe. Besides, there’re Aunt Betty and Minerva, even Aberforth.”  
“You are not making your situation any better, Schatz”  
Albus bit his lip trying not to laugh. “Do you want to make adjustments, honey?”  
“No. It will do.” said Gellert, turned around and disappeared upstairs.  
Albus got up, brushed the dust off his trousers with a chuckle and called “Is that a yes, dear?”  
And started to ascend the stairs. There was some silence and then -  
“Yes. If you will move your majestical Arsch to the kitchen. Aunt Betty is coming tonight, and you are not getting out of helping, with some magical watches and doe eyes.”  
Albus Dumbledore was beaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARSCHLOCH - asshole  
> Liebe - love  
> Ja wirklich - indeed  
> Schatz - dear  
> Arsch - ass


	12. Over the Mountains

“Gellert I’m home” he said cheerfully closing the door behind him.  
The ringing silence greeted him as an old friend and followed him faithfully as he climbed the stairs. He went through the empty rooms opening the doors with an increasing trembling of hands. He didn’t dare cast the spell that will confirm his fears, he decided to prolong his suffering as he always did, really. He reached the kitchen with the suffocating feeling of doom. Fawkes was nowhere in sight and so were the house elves. No Gellert either.  
He made himself some tea with shaking hands. Gellert had finally had enough of him. He felt like crying, but instead he was choking on air, drawing shaky breaths, holding onto the mug as a life belt. Through the black veil of raising panic he prayed to whoever would listen that Gellert wouldn’t do anything stupid, because after what they did to Gellert last time, there wasn’t a chance in hell he will let the ministry know anything. Then it hit him in the gut like a bludger from a vicious beater - he will spend the summer alone in a castle Gellert built, waking every morning in a bed that will be only his own all of a sudden, eating breakfast drowning in silence. “Please let the house elves live” he thought as a tear finally slid down his face. 

He was sobbing quite loudly when something made a loud pop right behind him accompanied by cheerful laughter. A bag of groceries was dropped and apples scattered across the kitchen as the laughter died and settled on Gellert’s face in a form of white shock. “Liebling?” he whispered.  
Albus Dumbledore turned around in his chair as the colours were slowly setting into their rightful places in front of his eyes. Yes, Gellert was indeed there, standing right in front of him accompanied by their two house elves. The world was suddenly spinning and sparkling, but he had arms around him and his face was tucked into Gellert’s shirt, at least he thought so because it smelled like Gellert, and nothing else seemed important at the moment. “Albus what the hell?”  
“You left”  
“Ja. To buy the apples you forgot to buy for the Apfelstrudel.”  
“No one was here..”  
“Yes Liebe. Some very smart wizards left a loophole in their wards on the castle, leaving the house elves free to do whatever they please, as is custom all over the Wizarding. It’s a tactical mistake, but quite a useful one, I must admit.” a smile warmed Gellert’s face from its initial shock.  
“Said wizards might have temporarily forgotten about said loophole and decided to go for the worst case scenario. And Fawkes...” Albus wrinkled his nose  
“Stretching wings over the mountains. Melting some ice tops, me thinks. I’m not going anywhere and good luck getting rid of me even in the afterlife, süßer.” He paused to nuzzle Albus’ hair and let out a relieved breath “We need to make some adjustments to the watches. What do you think about adding - getting groceries and signing divorce papers? You know, just to cover it all.” His grin earned him a smack on the shoulder. ”Idiot”


	13. Nursery Rhymes Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> set in 1968

It was a quiet and lazy morning. Albus’ meetings were scheduled, strategically, as if by magic, to leave these couple of days free. Gellert was lounging on their bed with his back on the pillow, reading Doctor Faustus. He was actually planning on reading Thomas Mann’s Mefisto for quite a while now, but somehow always got distracted and haven’t got to it yet.  
Albus was spinning around the room with headphones that weren’t connected to anything, yet somehow played his latest muggle music obsession, which floated and spun around in the form of a vinyl record in the corner - he refused to listen to music on cassettes as “they reduced the divine quality of the music”. 

“Aunt Betty is coming on Sunday.”  
“Hmm..”  
“I’m thinking about going to Wien for a cake”  
Gellert raised his eyes from the book and looked at Albus quietly.  
“When” he wasn’t keen on parting with Albus.  
“What about tomorrow morning?”  
“Have fun.” Gellert was behind his book again.  
“I thought maybe..” Albus was suddenly standing very close to him “We could have a date.” He was radiating excitement accompanying it with a hopeful smile.  
“Liebe, that’s not possible.” it pained him to say it so much, the greater good be damned.  
“Don’t you even think about this ridiculous fib, Gellert. Haven’t you apparated with Twinkle and Yolanda just the other day? We could do that! We’ll use transfiguration and no one will be the wiser!” Albus’ eyes were shining with determination but Gellert was not one to be intimidated so easily. He smiled softly putting his book aside.  
“Schatz,” he sighed. “Let me put it that way - if I’m getting caught, and I already have a wunderschönes track record, mind you, it’s just a ‘dark lord escaping prison’. If we are caught together, however, it will be ‘Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Foolery and Incompetence smuggled his long time associate, the dark lord Gellert Grindelwald, out of prison. Both are now facing the kiss of a dementor.’ and honestly I don’t like the sound of it.”  
“But Gellert, no one will know..”  
“No buts Albus. You’ll have to go with someone else. Minerva maybe? Or Nicolas?”  
Albus stared at him for a long moment then said “I’ll check if Elphias is up to it”  
“Albus, that’s petty” said Gellert, slumping back into the pillow.  
“Minerva is in a conference in Italy and Nicolas doesn’t travel anymore..” said Albus in a somewhat defeated voice.  
“What are you listening to?” said Gellert in a hope to change the subject as quickly as possible.  
“A muggle band, called Pink Floyd. Here, listen.” and he listened.  
“It’s as if they are singing about us.” whispered Gellert.  
“Yeah.” Albus’ smile was somewhat faint, but there nonetheless. “I’ll go call Elphias and make us some tea.” he said wrinkling his nose, leaving the headphones in Gellert’s hands.  
  
  
_For all the time spent in that room_  
_The doll's house darkness old perfume_  
_And fairy stories held me high_  
_On clouds of sunlight floating by_  
_Oh Mother, tell me more -_  
  
  
Sang the eerie voice in the headphones.


	14. Nursery Rhymes Part 2

Albus Dumbledore just finished to interview yet another candidate for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position and was now heading towards Prof. McGonagall’s cottage at Hogsmeade. Prof. Galatea Merrythought was about to retire and Tom Riddle was getting to teach DADA over his dead body, the nerve of that kid. He had to find someone else soon.

“I need a favor.” he said with an apologetic smile, sipping his tea.  
“Of course you do.” she said with a stern look. “what are you planning now?”  
“You remember the concert Gellert bought us all tickets for, for my birthday?”  
“What did he do?” Prof. McGonagall stared at him intently.  
“Oh nothing of that sort, I assure you. It’s just that I want him to be there too.” he said, eyes twinkling.  
“You want him to be there too?” repeated Prof. McGonagall slowly.  
“Yes.”  
“Despite the fact that he will most certainly be opposed?” an eyebrow was raised.   
“That’s what I need your favor for.” he said beaming.  
“Indeed.”   
“It’s for my birthday, he will have to forgive me eventually.” he sipped his tea. “We can’t apparate in and out of the country without the Ministry knowing, even with house elves, so we will require a portkey. And that’s where you come in dear - I need you to rent a car.”  
“A muggle car?”  
“Yes”  
“You are aware of the tiny fact that you need to know how to drive those things?”  
“Magic is might, my dear” Prof. McGonagall spat her tea. Albus was beaming still, eyes twinkling in amusement. “Go on, enlighten me of your lovely plan, Albus”  
“We will have to keep it quiet until the due date - Gellert tends to be rather difficult.”  
“For a reason.” muttered Prof. McGonagall  
“If he will keep being stubborn we can always push him into… I heard they have those storage spaces at the back of the car called a car trunk? Though, I really hope it won’t come to it.”  
“Alright, let me get this straight - you want me to push your dark lord of a husband into a car trunk, drive said car without the knowledge of how to work this thing and smuggle said dark lord into England so you can go to a concert? Did I forget anything, Albus?”  
“I really don’t think the car trunk part is necessary, it’s there only as a precaution.”  
Prof. McGonagall stared at him intently for a long and quiet moment.  
“I keep forgetting that you are just as crazy as Gellert”  
“No Minnie” he smiled softly, eyes twinkling in amusement “I’m far crazier, he just got caught.” and he winked at her, taking another sip of the tea.   
Minerva McGonagall sighed and rolled her eyes. “You owe me. When and where?”   
Albus Dumbledore’s smile could light the whole main hall at Hogwarts.


	15. Nursery Rhymes Part 3

He called the muggle newspapers’ advertisement section of every city in Europe in order to get hold of the tickets, or at least the dates for the shows, with pitiful results. He wanted to do something special for Albus’ birthday this year and going to his muggle band’s concert seemed like the right choice at the time. When he finally managed to call the ticket office in London they told him he had to come and get the tickets himself. In cash. Gellert almost threw the phone across the room, but managed to get a grip of himself just in time. He and Jacob didn’t work on it for nothing, thank you very much. This phone was one of a kind. Well, three of a kind really, but it’s beyond the point. When it came to this particular favor he would rather ask Jacob for so many reasons apart from the obvious one, but Jacob and Queenie were in the States at the moment, and so it seemed that he and Mr. Scamander were due to have a little chat sooner than he thought. Bless Newt and his London apartment.

Eventually the tickets were bought, and brought to him by Newt and Tina on their way to Vienna - Newt’s latest edition has just been translated into German and they were heading to one of the reception parties. In exchange Gellert found himself agreeing to review every German edition of any of Newt’s future books. Oh, the things he will do for Albus. Despite his best efforts, everything didn't go as smoothly as Gellert wished it to go, for the closest concert to Albus’ birthday happened to be, unfortunately, two months early, on the 29th of June. Gellert tried to reason with himself that it's perfectly fine, it will be quite conveniently in London on a Saturday evening, so Albus and Minerva won’t even have to take more than a day off. However, while being convinced that he was reasonable enough, he was also hoping quite frantically that the whole affair won’t blow up in his face. The Scamanders excused themselves from the event due to a trip to South Africa, but promised to come to the actual birthday celebrations in August. Gellert made sure to glare as threateningly as possible at Newt, so the boy will know that he will be skinned alive if he failed to show up, but lost the wanted effect when Tina rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen on a rampage for more cake - between him, Queenie, and the rest of the world, Gellert was the second best at Strudels. 

“Alright I don’t have more than three minutes, spill it out”  
That was not the reaction Gellert was expecting after sending the tickets in a fanciest envelope he could find to the birthday boy. He gaped at the mirror that contained a very concerned Albus, to put it mildly. “What are you talking about, Liebe?”  
“The Tickets Gellert. How did you get them.” blue eyes were shining dangerously at him.  
“Oh, that.” Gellert smiled sweetly. “A magician never reveals his tricks, Schatz.”  
“Gellert, I don’t have time for this. Do me a favor and just tell me do I need to put out a fire, bribe a ministry official, or obliviate the whole muggle ticket office in London?”  
“None of the above. Did it the old fashioned way.”  
“Which is?”  
“Asked Newton to go and buy them for me? I thought you would like the idea that they were obtained legally”  
“Oh”  
“Ja …” the corner of the room seemed suddenly very interesting.  
“Thank you Gellert”  
Gellert raised his eyes along with the corners of his lips.  
“I’ll talk to you after classes.” and Albus disappeared from the mirror.

 

After classes came too soon and not soon enough simultaneously.  
“Gellert” he was under the scrutinizing gaze of two spectacled pairs of eyes, staring at him from the flames. Talk about burning looks. “You bought us tickets for a concert in June, **before** the school ends, without talking to us first?” Minerva McGonagall asked in a quiet voice that usually was heard before a storm broke. Albus stayed silent, eyes dangerously twinkling. Letting others do his killings for him as usual, thought Gellert bitterly.  
Gellert swallowed, he knew it would blow up in his face, didn’t he? Oh well.  
“Elphias, Jacob and Queenie will be able to make it”  
“You rather **are** unbelievable.”  
“Come on! It’s Saturday evening in London, and Newt is in South Africa. He said you can stay at his place.” said Gellert with determination on his face. Merlin don’t let her smell his fear.  
Prof.McGonagall’s, for she was at the moment in a full professor mode, nostrils flared. Gellert was sure that if she could breathe fire, she would’ve burned him alive without hesitation. “It might be difficult to comprehend, Gellert, but the exams will be going on. It’s the busiest period of the year! Prof. Merrythought is resigning next year and Albus must find a replacement, not to talk about the amount of grading and paperwork! What were you thinking?!”  
“I’ll do your grading and paperwork. It’s not like I have anything else to do. All the lot will be at the concert, and I’m rather good at Transfiguration...and the Dark Arts.” he dared to wink at them.  
Prof.McGonagall’s eye seemed to develop a twitch, Albus on the other hand chuckled quietly. “Wait.. You are not coming?” Albus froze with a startled expression.  
“Of course not Schatz. Why would I? Besides the imprisonment issue, I believe I’m banned for life from your lovely isles.”  
“But..“  
Gellert raised an eyebrow, but it seemed that Albus was about to argue, so he added hurriedly “I’m not risking you and your reputation as your birthday present, Albus!”  
“Fine. But I’m taking the day before off and coming home right after the concert.”  
“As you wish Liebe, It’s your birthday present.” said Gellert with a smile. “Will you send me the gradings with an owl or...?”  
“If you want to kill an owl, that's how you do it” said Minerva flatly.  
“So, Al you’ll bring it then?”  
But Prof. McGonagall interrupted them “I’m not letting you grade my classes, you’ll be unnecessarily harsh!”  
“I’m afraid I’ve grown too old and am in a need of a hearing aid. Can you repeat that, Minnie?” said Gellert turning to her with an amused expression. Minerva fixed him with a death stare, though her cheeks coloured a little.  
“Well, you’ll write them nasty comments! and Albus? I know you’re helping Galatea but don’t you dare let him grade DADA! I bet he’ll write them all sorts of nasty spells to try at their free time just for the kicks.”  
“As if he doesn’t let me grade his papers already.” deadpanned Gellert.  
“No fighting kids!” said Albus, smiling serenely, eyes twinkling with mischief. “There’s, really, no need to be so protective of your papers Minnie.   
I won’t be surprised if the children will opt not to read the comments at all. And he’ll be a good boy, won’t you Gellert?” Gellert was caught in the blue stare of a cobra that was clearly enjoying itself. “Of course.” he pulled a face and stuck his tongue at them.


	16. Venice

Albus Dumbledore was in the middle of a quite boring meeting to be honest, though he didn’t show it one bit. He had his polite smile plastered on and he seemed to be listening to every word the minister had to say. If he had to repeat himself like a parrot again about werewolves’ rights, the status and integration of goblins, house elves and centaurs, and the importance of the giants' population, and yet again to hear that it was not the right time to approach the public with such matters, he might have a moral slip, the Wizarding World will lack a minister and he will have a very triumphant Gellert at home. Oh dear, he had to hold on. The minister was now elaborating about the hardships the ministry has to overcome to maintain a decent security of common wizards, that integrating werewolves was not only harmful to the safety of the general public but might put to risk the Statute of Secrecy, and of course, he, Dumbledore, should understand that it’s not a risk the ministry will be ready to take, at least not at the moment. Of course, the well being of every member of the Wizarding World is a top most priority, however, for the overall good of the general public it is wise to hold the horses.  
Oh the good old Greater Good. Albus was contemplating buying or conjuring one of those things called guns to put an end to his misery, but decided that scaring the minister to death was not worth severing all ties with the muggle world, few as they might be.  
At the peak of his despair a golden feather floated few inches above his desk dropped and turned into a note. Albus snatched the note, read it, turned his face back to the minister and his secretary with an apologetic smile “As wonderfully informative and delightful our meetings usually are, I will have to end this one now. I’m terribly sorry, school matters call.”  
The note was from Gellert. It said -  
“Venice has nothing on us. We need a plumber.”  
As soon as the Ministry people were out of the tower Albus went to his room, sprinkled a powder that made the flames in the fireplace dance all shades of emerald and after a few moments Gellert appeared amongst them.  
“Lucky me that our fire is waterproof.”  
“Is all that bad?”  
“Well I can start receiving tourists at the entrance hall to look at the marvelous waterfall for the extra cash, and I might have seen the house elves on a Gondola.”  
“Alright I’m lowering the wards so you can transfigure into me before the plumber comes.”  
“That’s … rather kinky, Schatz.” Gellert was grinning. “But you won’t be there, so it's no fun and I don’t see the point.”  
“Well dear.” Albus smiled softly “I hope you can imagine the surprise of the plumber when he’ll arrive at what is supposed to be a prison castle and no less than Gellert Grindelwald himself will welcome him and say ‘you see we’ve got a little problem with the toilet’.”  
“It’s not little.”  
“You've got my point.”  
“That’s still weird.”  
“So.. I’m buying a new bathing suit and a kayak for the weekend?”  
“Fine call the plumber.” Gellert rolled his eyes.

 

A staff meeting was drawing to its end and the room was filling with chatter by the moment, when Albus Dumbledore received the second golden feather for the day. The feather turned, like the previous, to a note that said - ‘The plumber said we better renovate the whole thing. I said JA.’  
Albus felt the panic rising in him in black suffocating waves, and walked out of the room hoping that no one will follow. He was almost at the deserted room with a fireplace on the third floor when he froze with realization, and exhaled a defeated “Well, nevermind, it will have to wait I guess.”

Minerva cornered him the next day around lunch. “Albus.”  
“Yes that’s my name.” he smiled softly taking a sip of his orange juice.  
He received a very pointed look. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing. Everything is absolutely splendid.” he decided that it wasn’t smart looking her in the eyes.  
“I’ll meet you at my office in five minutes. If you won’t be there I’ll find you and drag you there myself. Are we clear?”  
“Perfectly.” Albus swallowed.  
“Good.” Minerva curled her lips upwards. “See you then.”  
At Minerva’s office they stood in silence until she couldn’t take it no longer.  
“Albus, you better start talking.”  
“Whatever do you want me to talk about?” smiled Albus.  
“Well, Fawkes isn’t here and you avoid fireplaces as if they were the plague. I’m assuming Gellert has something to do with it.”  
Albus exhaled and sank into the nearest chair. “We renovated our bathroom.”  
“The absolute worst that could happen in a relationship I heard. And?”  
“Well, it’s a little complicated..”  
“As everything with you two.”  
“We had a little misfortune with the sewer pipes on the second floor. I called the plumber and asked Gellert to … well, play my part so to say.”  
Minerva raised a brow “Play your part, Albus?”  
“You know he can transfigure into people… so he was me. We thought it would be less suspicious.”  
“I can see so many scenarios in which it can go wrong..”  
“It went perfectly well, as far as I know.”  
“So what’s the problem?”  
“Gellert decided to renovate the whole bathroom not just the pipes.”  
“Oh, so evil of him.”  
“He was me so I couldn’t call, and Fawkes was at home.”  
“I still don’t see the problem”  
“He stated on several occasions that a black aesthetic for a bathroom suits a dark lord. I believe that I didn’t state clearly enough that I don’t want a black bath, or he might have done it to spite me.”  
“And now you are too scared to find out?”  
Albus kept his silence.  
“What’s wrong with a black bath anyway?”  
“It looks like a deep lake that you can drown in.”  
“You need to talk to him.”  
“Of course. I will.” said Albus cheerfully “If you excuse me I have some meetings this afternoon, I must be going.” and he left the room with a considerable speed. 

 

After three days of growing concern Minerva was sitting at her Hogsmeade cottage weighing her options of approaching Albus - Stubborn Idiot - Dumbledore, but her cloud of thoughts was blown away by a sudden appearance of a very tired looking Gellert among the flames that she was staring at, deep in thought, just a moment ago. He was smoking a cigarette and sporting dark circles around his eyes to match his shirt.  
“Hi Minnie.” his smile was somewhat sad. “Can I bother you for a moment?”  
“Of course dear. I didn’t know you started smoking again.”  
Gellert laughed bitterly and took a drag from the cigarette. “Old habits bring comfort at a time of need, so they are the hardest to kill.” he blew a green ring of smoke that hung in the flames above his head like a halo. “And, well, bad habits are what I’m here for, really. He doesn’t seem to come home in the foreseeable future, or answer my calls for that matter.”  
“Gellert you know his reaction to stress is detachment, he’ll come around..”  
“Oh I know. If I only knew what’s wrong, it could help, but in the meantime.” Gellert took another drag and another halo formed above his head.  
“Well, you didn’t happen to make the bathtub in your castle black by any chance, did you?” asked Minerva cautiously.  
“Ah..”  
“Oh no”  
“Calm down I didn’t. Why would I?”  
“Albus said that you were planning on doing it for some time.”  
“It was a joke. He’s really pulling all of this over a bathtub?”  
“Well ..”  
Gellert smoked in silence for a few moments looking somewhere in the distance. “Well anyhow” he came back to reality throwing away his cigarette. Minerva hoped that it didn’t land on the wooden floor on his end of the call. “Would you mind terribly to go and buy Albus some Sherbet Lemons? I admit I rather obliterated his stock at home in a spree of nervous eating..” said Gellert holding out a wallet and looking hopeful.  
“Of course. You need anything else?”  
“Ja ..” Gellert smiled his sad smile again. “Tell him that if he needs any socks or scarves that he left here, I can always drop them at your place” He took a deep breath “or if he wants to be mean, I can talk to Aberforth.”  
“Gellert, stop the drama, he’ll come home on the weekend.” said Minerva, and after Gellert disappeared from the flames added “even if I’ll have to push him down the chimney myself.”

 

Albus crossed the lawn toward Gellert, who was sitting on the edge of their pond smoking and painting. Few merpeople heads popped at the surface of the water but Gellert waved them away to continue colouring the undisturbed waters on his canvas. Albus stood beside him with hands in his pockets. Gellert didn’t stop his brush movements for an eternity that lasted a minute and a half, after which he lifted his head and nodded in acknowledgement. Albus walked closer, took the cigarette out of Gellert’s mouth and dared a small beam of a smile.  
Gellert watched him for awhile with an unreadable expression, while Albus eyed the cigarette. “No need for you to have lung cancer, in addition to the inevitable diabetes.” Gellert tried to snatch it back, as Albus made a move to put it in his mouth.  
“We both know it’s not nicotine” said Albus dodging Gellert’s hand with a smile. “You have quite a greenhouse at the back there.” Albus took a drag, eyes twinkling.  
“Fine, report me to the authorities for illegal growing of tanticula and four leaf clover. Give it back!”  
“Alright, alright!” laughed Albus taking another drag, but giving the cigarette back.  
“Gellert”  
“What?” it came rather sharp, though Albus probably deserved it.  
“I’m sorry.”  
Gellert smoked in silence, his canvas long forgotten on the chair, the merpeople floating behind the nearest bush.  
“How can I make it up to you?”  
“I have an idea, though you might not take a liking to it.”  
Albus silently raised a brow.  
“As an eye for an eye measure I would like to choose your outfits for a week.”  
“Gellert..”  
“Come on, no one will be the wiser” Gellert released a cloud of purple smoke, darting a glance at the merpeople who sank into the pond just in time. “No outfit can be more extravagant than the ones you already own!”  
"Fine." 

On Monday Minerva McGonagall was greeted by a peculiar vision of Albus Dumbledore dressed from head to toe in black.  
“Did someone die?”  
“Gellert’s sense of humor.”


	17. Chocolate Frog Cards

Jacob Kowalski entered Gellert Grindelwald’s study at Numenguard castle and looked around. Not much has changed since the first time he visited this room. The corner by the door was filled with coulderons, jars full of potions, a cupboard for ingredients, and a sink. A wall was lined with various plants in flower pots. To Jacob’s amazement there were non magical plants as well. When he was feeling brave enough to approach Gellert on that matter, the latter dismissed it with a “Know your enemy” and a change of subject. Books were scattered everywhere, with the largest concentration being piled on the large dark oak desk. The newest addition to the ongoing blizzard of activity were muggle electronic devices that found their places among the books on the desk, in boxes on shelves and on the floor. On the wall behind the desk where others may hang portraits or trophies Gellert hung a selection of ridiculous Witch Weekly articles about his beloved’s attire, and a frame full of chocolate frog cards, particularly Albus Dumbledore chocolate frog cards, and if you knew where to push, the frame revealed a drawer full of them. Jacob was down the corridor to the respective office of Albus Dumbledore, though not as often, and had seen that mr. Dumbledore, too, possessed a frame with an Albus Dumbledore chocolate frog card. The frame contained a lonely card signed by Nicolas Flamel. He only heard second hand stories of the row these cards had caused in the Dumbledore-Grindelwald household upon their immediate release to the Wizarding market, all due to the lovely phrasing on the back of the card:  
“for his work on Alchemy with his **partner** Nicolas Flamel”.

Newt swore that this innocent sentence has sent the greatest wizard of modern times to countless nights on the couch in the living room of Numenguard castle. According to him, said great wizard was pardoned only after a call to Nicolas and his wife at 3 o’clock in the morning, which ended with a signed paper stating that there was only a working relationship between Nicolas Flamel and prof. Albus Dumbledore. Newt could have exaggerated of course, after all he witnessed only a glimpse of the storm, and as much as he was sympathetic to Dumbledore, Newt was mainly relieved that Gellert’s jealous ire wasn’t firing in his direction for a change. However, Jacob knew that no exaggeration could fully explain the hurricane that was Gellert Grindelwald. If there was one thing he knew about Gellert, it was that a wall of blue fire was hiding somewhere along the story, mainly as a passive aggressive weapon of mass destruction. 

Jacob didn’t remember exactly when, how, and if he agreed to give Gellert Grindelwald Muggle Studies lessons, but one sunny afternoon he was standing at the entrance to Numenguard, still gripping the old kettle portkey, with a beaming Albus Dumbledore to greet him. He was lead to Dumbledore’s office, where he settled into an orange armchair and was offered some tea.  
“How’s Queenie these days? We haven’t heard from her in a while.” said Dumbledore letting his tea cup float in the air as he sat down.  
“Rather busy. We opened new branches of our bakery in England this month, you see, so we both have a lot to fuss about, but all is well.” said Jacob gripping his cup.  
“Oh really? I must go visit some time soon. Gellert likes to bake too, you know, but me, I’m rather awful.” Dumbledore smiled softly sipping some tea.  
“Ah… really? Didn’t know that.” answered Jacob nervously.  
“Yes. Why don’t you discuss it with him? I’m sure he would like some company right now.”  
“What? No!” Jacob tried to protest, but with a snap of his long fingers Dumbledore summoned into the room something that resembled a really ugly teddy bear. Jacob thought he could recall Newt telling him those were called house elves.  
“Yolanda, would you be so kind and call mr. Grindelwald? I need to talk to him.”  
“Of course master Dumbledore, sir.” and the being disappeared with a bow and a loud pop.

“What the hell is he doing here?” said Grindelwald entering the room a few moments later. He was dressed in loose pants of some soft dark fabric, even softer and darker looking shirt buttoned only half way up, and a purple dressing gown, clearly stolen from his partner. Jacob was struck mute. He has never seen the man so close without said man shouting threats and profanities at Newt, and he had a distinct feeling that he will understand Newt in this regard soon enough.  
“He’s your introduction to the Muggle world. We talked about it, dear."  
“I don’t recall we ever did.” said Grindelwald coldly.  
“You promised to take Muggle Studies as your rehabilitation program.” Jacob has never expected the respectable teacher to pout, but there he was.  
“I did,” said Grindelwald closing the door behind him with an ominous thud, and slowly making his way into the room. “But I was under the impression that books will suffice.” He was standing right beside Dumbledore’s armchair, arms folded.  
Jacob was rather surprised to find himself siding with Grindelwald of all people, but he too failed to see the necessity of his stay at the premise.  
“Well dear, you once said yourself that learning through experience is better.” said Dumbledore looking at his partner with twinkling eyes. “May I remind you that you ought to pass the Ministry approved test in Muggle Studies in order for me to, **officially** , have some liberties with the castle wards?”  
“Oh, so the muggle standing in front of me, in our magic castle, mind you, is, how the phrase goes, ‘Ministry approved’?” asked Grindelwald looking rather smug.  
“Don’t be so difficult dear, please.” Sighed Dumbledore sagging into his chair a little.  
“Lieber, you want me to pass the Muggle Studies exam by practically violating the Statute of Secrecy?”  
Dumbledore was smiling at his tea cup, but stayed silent.  
“Scheiße darling.” said Grindelwald quietly. At this Dumbledore clapped his hands and jumped to his feet. The tea cups disappeared into thin air. “Well, I’ll leave you two kids to play. You have a lot to talk about.” At the door he spun around “And thank you again, Jacob.” He said with a wink and walked out, while Jacob was trying his best to find his voice to say “no no no, absolutely not a chance!” without much success. 

The silence in the room after Dumbledore’s depart was deafening.  
“So … I heard you like to bake?” squeaked Jacob out of sheer panic.  
Grindelwald’s eyebrows, though very pale, have visibly hit the stratosphere. Jacob squeezed himself further into the armchair. The clock on the wall ticked the minutes away as the mismatched eyes fixed him with a calculating stare.  
“Gellert Grindelwald, I believe my husband forgot to introduce us.” Said Grindelwald after a while, extending his hand for a shake.  
“Jacob. Er.. Jacob Kowalski.” said Jacob shaking the offered hand. Maybe there was still a chance for him to walk out of here alive after all.  
“Shall we move this party to a more suitable place?” asked Grindelwald.  
“Ah..” Jacob stared at him dumbfounded. _What the hell was wrong with_ this _place_?  
“Follow me.” Said Grindelwald curtly and walked out of the room.  
When they reached Grindelwald’s office, to Jacob’s immense relief it was not a dungeon with torture devices, and he was pleasantly surprised to find it rather cosy, even if somewhat dark.

“So.. should we start with the books?” asked Jacob cautiously.  
“Whatever for? I can read just fine myself.” barked Grindelwald settling into a chair by the large table.  
“Well mr. Grindelwald..” started Jacob still standing in the doorway.  
“Gellert.”  
Jacob gapped for a moment but quickly recovered. “Well, er.. Gellert. I’m not an expert, I’m just a baker, really. I guess we could start with transportation? Trains?”  
Gellert had his head resting in his hands on the table. “Been to trains, taxis and buses too.”  
Jacob stared. “Why?’’  
“The Ministry’s too idiotic to even think of the option and I was curious. There’s a train going to Al’s school. I wanted to see the difference” sighed Gellert.  
"Well, then I guess radios are out of question too. I heard wizards have radios, right? Though I'm not sure what are they working on, without electricity, that is. But, magic I guess?" shrugged Jacob. He felt like he was babbling.  
To this Gellert lifted his eyes that burned with sudden interest.  
“We would need a radio for that.” He said jumping to his feet and rushing to the door. “Come along!” he shouted as he ran outside. Jacob stumbled after him wondering what was it with wizards and running, and what on earth has he got himself into this time. He followed Gellert into the kitchen, relying mainly on the loud shouts of “Albus!” that accompanied the excited wizard. Jacob got to the kitchen just in time to see Dumbledore sitting startled, with a tea cup halfway to his lips as Gellert exclaimed excitedly at him, “Albus! We need a radio!”  
Dumbledore unfroze from his initial shock and put down the tea cup with a warm smile. “What’s wrong with the one we have?”  
“Nothing, we need a muggle radio.” Gellert went to pour himself a glass of water, saw Jacob and raised the glass in a silent question - did he want some water too? Jacob nodded, huffing, a little out of breath.  
Gellert took a sip and walked to hand Jacob the second glass. “Well, while you’re at it, you might want to buy us a new radio too.” He turned around to face his husband, putting his empty glass on the table by the transfiguration magazine Albus abandoned there. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to put the one we have back together in a functional way.”  
“Why don't you simply ask the house elves to fetch them for you?” Albus quirked a brow.  
“Oh, it’s not as fun. Besides,” Gellert finished Albus’ cup of tea. “You started this mess. It’s only fair.” He had a smile of a true bastard shining proudly on his face.  
“You know that I can ask the house elves myself, dear?” said Albus with a small smile of no less of a bastard.  
Gellert pursed his lips and glared at Albus intently. Jacob gathered that Gellert Grindelwald was not keen on begging or admitting defeat. After a few quiet glaring contest moments Albus rose from the chair with a sigh and said, “Fine, but I expect tea upon my return.”  
“Will do, Lieber” said Gellert smiling fondly at him.


End file.
